Bitter are the Tears
by Foxwind
Summary: Naruto and Sasuke try to start an orphanage. Social reform ensuses. SasuNaruSasu (yaoi)
1. Prologue

Title: **Bitter are the Tears**  
Series: Naruto  
Pairing: SasuNaruSasu mainly. I might toss everyone else in a hat and see what happens if I get bored.  
Summary: Sasuke and Naruto start an orphanage.  
Warnings: …errr…. Shonen ai. Yaoi. BL. :points to pairing: Flames embraced. And social reform. Behold the boringness of social desputes.

Disclaimer: Not mine. Duh.

**A/N:** Alrighty. First Naruto fiction. This was inspired by a conversation that eventually brought up the point, "Hey, why _doesn't_ Konoha have an orphanage?" I mean, one's never been mentioned. If it has, there certainly wasn't a big to do about it. From what we've seen, it looks like Iruka, Sasuke, and Naruto pretty much raised themselves. Kakashi too, maybe, though I'm not sure about that since I haven't heard anything about his mother. That sent me on a mental trail of speculation that ended up with me having the urge to write a fic.

Mind you, this is not going to be an action fic. At all. Or a romance fic. Mostly. I'm a ball of fluff at heart, so cuteness will have its moments. Lots of ocs, but they're really the point of writing this. And concerning some of Sasuke's behavior? Dude, if it can happen to seasoned marines, it can happen to teenage ninja. So not a complaint about his PTSD unless you think I'm creating a symptom of it that doesn't exist. His newfound artistic skills though... well, if he's mentally unable to be a ninja, he's gotta find _some_ hobby. Other than training. Which, while probably enjoyable, would have to be _damn_ depressing reminder of what you probably could never do again.

But on to the prologue! ...which is shorter than the author's note. Right-o.

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**Bitter are the tears of a child: Sweeten them.**

**Deep are the thoughts of a child: Quiet them.**

**Sharp is the grief of a child: Take it from him.**

**Soft is the heart of a child: Do not harden it.**

_Pamela Glenconner_

Prologue

96

"Come live with me."

"I don't know you."

"Even being with a stranger is better than being alone."

"How do I know you won't hurt me? The others say you live with the _Traitor_."

"Yeah. But he's not a bad guy, really. Things just kinda went wrong. Get under the umbrella?"

"I'm already wet."

"Hey, I'm trying to be nice. Come on. There. Stay just for a few days? Tonight? Dinner?"

"Okay. Dinner. But why me?"

"Why not?"

"I'm not your family! I'm not your blood! You don't even _know _me! Nobody wants me. _Nobody_."

"I want you."

96

It was raining in Konoha, but for one girl the clouds were breaking.

96


	2. Chapter One

A/N: Chapter one! Unbetaed. Cuz I got no beta. I'm a very blunt writer, so please excuse the shortness. You can also blame meh ADHD. Look in prologue for everything concerning story. Authors notes will only appear as needed. Cuz I'm lazy.

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Chapter One

96

"Sasuke! I'm home!" Naruto waited for an answer and he got one a few seconds later in the form of a paintbrush being dropped into a cup of water. Sasuke, not being all that vocal to begin with, now usually spoke so little and to so few people he was often mistaken for being mute. Instead of a 'Welcome home!', which Naruto supposed was normal in other houses, Sasuke just made some noise to show what room he was in. He was in the living room. "And I brought home a girl," Naruto added in a teasing tone.

That earned him a muffled grunt. Sasuke must be holding something in his mouth, probably a tube of acrylic.

Naruto looked down to the small, slip of a thing behind him. "He's been wanting to meet you, Mitsu."

She looked up at him, dark eyes wide and wary. And maybe a little disbelieving. There was an air of hopelessness, futility, and the unfairness of the world that hung around her as she stood dripping on the hall rug.

"But," he said, reaching down to muss her short, sodden hair, "I think he might want to meet a little girl. Not a drowned rat. So!" a bright grin, "Let's get you dried off." He guided her, a hand lightly touching her shoulder, down a hall and to a bathroom. Naruto took a fluffy towel and a t-shirt – he kept a small stack of clothes there for when he was lazy – from a cabinet and put them on the sink. "Take a shower if you want. Toss out your wet clothes and I'll put them in the dryer for you."

"Okay." Mitsu stared at him in the way that a dog that had been kicked too many times would, expecting that nice was too good to be true and it would only be so long before she was out in the rain again.

"I'll be with Sasuke when you're done, 'kay? You'll be able to hear us. We should be making dinner by then. Well, Sasuke will. I'll be getting in the way." This earned him a small smile, which Naruto took as a victory, and left, closing the door gently behind him. He stood behind the door so that when it finally opened, just enough to squeeze out her dripping sundress, he wouldn't scare her. It was very easy to hide your presence from an academy student.

Naruto picked it up, wondering if, perhaps, she wore bright yellow for the same reasons he had worn orange.

After making a detour to the laundry room – twenty minutes permanent press, because permanent press works for everything – he went to go see what Sasuke had been up to while he was gone implementing the third step to their Master Plan.

It seemed, while he was gone, that Sasuke had moved from painting canvas to painting the ceiling. In one corner it looked like he was painting a block of the ceiling to appear like a skylight. But with Sasuke he could never make predictions too soon. Things tended to get painted over with something new if he got tired of the idea, or if something better came up.

"How did you get her to come?" he asked quietly, walking down the wall back to the floor.

"I don't know. She's a little scared of us because of what the other villagers say, you know. I think she's desperate. No child _wants _to raise themselves."

Sasuke snorted disdainfully.

"Yeah. Well, we'll change things. Come on, she's going to be expecting dinner. I wonder what she cooks for herself? All I made was ramen and cereal."

"I made riceballs." A pause. "And noodles. Things in boxes."

Naruto nodded and walked to the kitchen. "Yeah. It's pretty easy to make those all healthy and nutritious. No wonder you're taller than me. Cup ramen stunted my growth. But now I can make better ramen! Though cup ramen is still really good."

Sasuke shook his head, taking out some defrosted chicken from the refrigerator.

"What? It is! Making it yourself is nice but those artificial flavorings are so addictive!" He got out some vegetables and cut them for stir fry. "You've just never had a chance to get addicted! One of these weeks, nothing but cup ramen. You will be its slave _forever_."

A huff. "Dumbass."

"Yeah, you're right. We'll never get the elders to let us if we do something like that. They'll say we're irresponsible." Naruto made a face. "But after! In a year or something. You, me, and that cupboard." He pointed to a cupboard with a sign hanging off its knob reading "Naruto's Super Sacred Cup Ramen: Touch and DIE". It was one of Naruto's more endearing quirks.

Sasuke, now ignoring him, was calmly cooking the vegetables, pushing and flipping them around the wok to make sure they were cooked evenly.

Mitsu cautiously entered the kitchen as Naruto dumped the chicken into the wok, causing the oil to spit fiercely and making the two men jump back in surprise.

"You have too much oil in there!"

"No I don't! The chicken was too wet!"

Naruto opened his mouth to retort, and closed it. He knew very little about cooking. Oh, he'd tried. And he'd kept trying for _years_. He'd failed, failed again, and failed again miserably enough that Sasuke has all but banished him from the kitchen, allowing him to only cook things that came in boxes. Cans if he was in a good mood. So Sasuke was probably right.

Sasuke smirked at him, and went back to the wok. Naruto followed him with his eyes and noticed his hands were shaking and his breathing was too sharp. Things like that were normal nowadays.

Naruto turned to the door, where Mitsu was clinging to the frame. "Dinner'll be done in a couple of minutes, if Sasuke doesn't mess up."

Sasuke grumbled something obscene under his breath that made Naruto laugh. Mitsu inched away from the door towards them, the collar of Naruto's faded black t-shirt slipping down her shoulder. Naruto waved to her. "Come on. Sit at the table. I hope you like chicken." Mitsu nodded, and took her seat.

Sasuke finished pushing the food around and, after checking to make sure that the chicken was cooked, slid the food onto three plates, which both he and Naruto carried over to the table.

"I heard you talking."

Sasuke and Naruto looked at eachother and then back to her.

"Are you doing something bad? Is that why you're worried about the elders?"

Naruto shook his head. "No. We're going to be doing something very good. We just don't think they'll like it. It's going to be something that no one in Konoha's done before. It will be greater than anything anyone's ever done for our village." Naruto's eyes grew more impassioned as he spoke, his voice brighter. "A lot of people will think we're doing something wrong because it goes against tradition, but I think that we'll end a lot of grief, a lot of despair. We can change the village _so much_."

"You talk too much." The mood was shattered. "We're starting an orphanage."

"A what?"

"You saw how big this place is when I brought you in. The Uchiha clan grounds are huge! Each kid could have their own house if they wanted it."

"What's an orphanage?"

Naruto looked at her, mouth agape. He turned to Sasuke. "I'd forgotten about that part."

"Did _you _know about orphanages at her age?"

"No. Did you?"

"Of course not. We were _both_ surprised to find out about them in Hidden Grass. Dumbass."

"Ba-!"

"Um, what's an orphanage?"

"—oh. Um, yeah." Naruto laughed sheepishly. "An orphanage is a place where kids with no family live together. In Hidden Grass there was an old couple who looked after them until they turned eighteen and were acknowledged as adults by the village."

"That sounds," she paused, "_nice_."

"Yeah. Konoha's never had something like that. Everyone's too tied up with their own families and too worried about keeping secrets from eachother. And it _hurts _our village. I _know _you're resentful that you're alone. You feel like they've abandoned you. I don't think they mean to make kids feel like that on purpose, but it's a crime. That kind of neglect is _unforgivable_."

Sasuke's face grew bitter. "Konaha only cares about making good ninja. If they can do what Konaha wants, it doesn't matter what they feel. If the kid breaks, it's his own fault. Not theirs."

Naruto gave Sasuke a soft look. "We'll stop that. We'll give them all a home. And a family, if they want it."

"You'd make a lousy parent," Sasuke teased with a broken smirk.

"I give you a week before someone flies through a wall."

"Just you."

"I'm someone."

"You think too highly of yourself."

"Bastard."

Smirk.

"So you're going to make all of us live here?"

Naruto shook his head. "Not make. I'm hoping you'll _want _to live here. We're not bad people. Sasuke's not a traitor, no matter what anyone else says. He's _not_!" He took a deep breath, in through his nose and out through his mouth. "We know what it's like to live alone, to raise yourself. We won't show pity, but we _can _provide understanding. And comfort. Someone who's _there_. That's more than we had for a _long _time."

"What do you get out of it?"

Sasuke and Naruto looked at eachother. "Get out of it?" Naruto asked.

"You have to be getting something out if it. No one would do something like that for free." Mitsu was giving them a cold look. "I don't want to be taken advantage of. I'd rather be alone than used. Do you think I'm weak because I'm a girl? That I _need _someone to help me!"

"No!" Naruto shook his head emphatically. "We've watched you. Between the Academy and odd jobs, you have no time for yourself! You're nine, right? You should be out having fun! It's not fair."

"Life's not fair."

"No it's not," Sasuke said in a soft, husky tone, "but you don't have to make things harder."

"We like you," Naruto continued. "We like what we've seen. You're serious, levelheaded, and hardworking. Maybe if the others see someone like you not minding being here, they'll give us a chance too."

"I still don't get why you're doing this."

Naruto shrugged. "It feels right." He looked down at their untouched meals. "Acceptance, maybe?"

"Forgiveness," Sasuke whispered.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. I guess that is the reason," he agreed softly.

Mitsu pushed her food around with her chopsticks. "You have a week. And if I don't want to stay, you have to pay me what I lost not doing jobs."

Naruto beamed at her. "Deal."


	3. Chapter Two

**Author's Ramble:** The first bit's just really me being indulgent to my muses, but it also helps to set up the relationship I think Sasuke and Naruto have in this story. They're an established couple who have already had their trials. What's left is a comfortable, strong relationship where they can be who they are, and one that doesn't need a lot of showy affection to show its strength or how much they care. It's the little things that mean the most; a touch on the arm, laughing at a bad joke, standing by with a glass of water and washrag when the other's being sick, eating a badly cooked meal just because. Mind you, they're both very physically active people. I'm sure they have a very healthy sex life. It's just not a major focal point. Just another show of affection or a way to have fun, not necessarily a driving force. Especially since they're mostly likely having it quite regularly. In fun, creative ways. Let your imagination soar! i.e., I'm making excuses for not wanting to write sex scenes. They're also adults who never _really _got to enjoy what childhood's supposed to be about. I imagine that now that the drama's over, they take the opportunities to enjoy the silly things in life that they couldn't do because there was no one to do them _with_, or there were other, more 'important', things to do, or, in Sasuke's case, because he was expected to be more mature than anyone their age had any real ability to be.

And wow, that was another long note. I hope you didn't mind me rambling on what's goin' on in my head. :sheepish: And Naruto's world is confusing, tech and economy wise. It was very very very very very very hard to wrap my mind around the concept of any of the characters pushing around a grocery cart.

Actually, I think I'm going to like their shopping trips.

96

Chapter Two

96

"Hammer."

"Get it yourself."

"But it's right by your hand!"

"I'm _using _this hand!"

"To scratch your ass!"

"What? It itches!"

"Hammer."

"Get it yourself."

Sasuke grumbled as he reached over to get his hammer, and, calm as anything, tipped Naruto off the roof. Naruto landed with a clunk and a splash, followed, predictably, by a bunch of garbled cursing, most of which consisted of the words "Sasuke", "bastard", and "kill".

Confused by the splash, Sasuke peeked over the edge of the roof and saw that Naruto had managed knock over the rain barrel on his way down. Laughter bubbled out of him as Naruto, sprawled dripping on ground that was already muddy from yesterday's rain, shook his fist at him.

"Oh, so now you're gonna _laugh _at me! Be a man and come down _here_ to laugh so I can hit you!"

Feeling indulgent, Sasuke jumped down and landed lightly next to Naruto, exerting his chakra a little in order to not sink down into the mud. He was fully expecting the handful of mud that smacked him in the chest. Sasuke was not, however, expecting Naruto to grab his foot and trip him down into the mud with him.

"Ha!" Naruto wrestled Sasuke onto his back and squished mud into his hair. "Take _that_, you bastard. Pushing me off the roof. I'll show you!"

Sasuke twisted and, after a short scuffle, sat himself on Naruto's chest facing his feet. Naruto only had a couple of seconds to wonder why Sasuke would do something so dumb when a glob of cold, wet, and slimy was shoved down his pants.

Naruto _screeched_.

Mud flew everywhere and very soon both of them were so plastered with it they were indistinguishable. Shouts and laughter echoed off the empty buildings.

When they'd finally exhausted themselves they just collapsed where they were, sprawled over and around eachother in the manner of puppies. Now and then Naruto would add an extra drip of mud to Sasuke's hair, or Sasuke would reach over and lazily poke between Naruto's ribs. Once, with gentle hands, Sasuke brushed Naruto's mud-drenched hair from his eyes.

They did not know how long they rested there. The slowly drying mud made their skin itch fiercely, but they were too content in their slice of time to move. It was peaceful lying there as the clouds drifted past the sun. A breeze carried the sweet smell of new blossoms around them.

A cough broke the spell and their eyes snapped open to look above them. Mitsu was standing there in a red-flowered sundress, arms crossed, eyebrow raised. She was bruised and battered from a hard day of training at the Academy and on her shoulder was a pack with some cloth poking out of it, enough fresh clothing to last the week's trial.

"Um," Naruto blushed under the mud, "we were fixing roofs?"

"So I see." She walked past them to go inside their house, probably to unpack in the room they'd given her to stay in.

Sasuke gave Naruto an amused look. "Were you just intimidated by a nine-year-old?"

Naruto steadfastly ignored the accusation and stretched. "We need to shower." He stood up and looked in disgust at the both of them.

Sasuke sat up and brushed some mud flakes from his hair, not that it did any good. "Yeah."

Naruto offered a hand to help Sasuke up, and, fingers locked, they followed the path Mitsu had taken towards their house.

96

Sasuke, still damp from their shower, found Mitsu studying at the kitchen table. "I need to buy food. Want to come?"

"Okay."

They walked in silence to the grocer. Sasuke ignored the mixed looks of contempt for a man who had chosen self gain over the village and pity for a man broken. Today the looks also had touches of confusion and curiosity. There was no reason whatsoever that Sasuke would be walking alone with a child.

The air inside the grocer was cold, a sharp contrast to Konoha's balmy spring. Sasuke grabbed a basket and headed towards the vegetables. He was checking potatoes for rotten spots when he saw that Mitsu kept glancing towards the carrots. He reached over and grabbed five of them.

"Get what you want."

Mitsu stared at him for a minute and then turned to start collecting different fruits and vegetables, placing them carefully into the basket. It was soon overflowing with apples, oranges, squash, tomatoes, cucumber, sugar cane (Sasuke gave her an odd look. "What?" she replied. "It's good."), and at least three different types of lettuce. Sasuke went back for a cart.

They traveled around the rest of the store, and Sasuke stocked up on milk and cereal, and grabbed some Cookies'n'Cream ice cream for Naruto.

It wasn't long before they headed to the check out lanes.

They were silent the way back to the Uchiha grounds.

96

Sasuke found Naruto in their bedroom, studying a taijutsu scroll on their bed, and handed him a bowl of ice cream. "I'm already lost."

"Hmm?" Naruto sat up and began spooning the ice cream into his mouth, making a noise of approval for Sasuke's choice of flavor.

"I can't talk to her. I tried, but nothing came out."

"What did you want to say?"

"I don't know." Sasuke sat down heavily by him. "Something like you did. Something to make her more comfortable here. All I could do was tell her to get food she wanted."

"Did she?"

"Yeah."

Naruto grinned and offered Sasuke a spoonful of ice cream. "Then I think you did fine."

96

Mitsu was jolted, gasping, from her sleep by a piercing, wailing scream. She sat straight up in bed, eyes wide.

It was coming from _their _room.

She slipped out of bed and, feet barely making a sound on the wood floor, padded to her door. Mitsu was trying to open the door quietly when the screams cut off hoarsely. Her eyebrows furrowed. She slipped into the hallway, pressed her back to the wall, and inched towards _their _room. Mitsu pressed her ear against the door and heard strange gasping sounds.

"Shhh, you're here, you're here. It's okay, it's over."

"You're real?"

"I'm _always _real."

"You weren't."

Mitsu edged open the door and peaked inside. Silhouetted perfectly by the window, it was impossible to see them as individuals. They were merely a quivering, entangled black shape against the faintly glowing night sky.

She closed the door and went back to bed.

96

**A/N: **_And now for the porno omake!_

:in the shower:

Naruto:points down: You made it dirty, so you have to clean it.

Bah this chapter is choppy….


End file.
